CRAFTSMAN TRUCK Chevy Silverado HD 250

Sprague wins NCTS season opener at Daytona

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida (Ticker) -- Travis Kvapil had Victory Lane
in his sights. But Jack Sprague spoiled the party at the last
possible second.

Sprague passed Kvapil on the final straightaway to win Friday
night's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Chevy Silverado HD 250 at
Daytona International Speedway.

It was the 28th career checkered flag for Sprague, who averaged
117.739 miles per hour in a Toyota Tundra. The 42-year-old
veteran became the first driver in NCTS history to win here in a
Toyota and needs only one victory to tie Ron Hornaday Jr. for
the all-time series lead.

"Travis could have really messed the whole deal up and wrecked
the whole field, but he was really good about it," said Sprague,
who won $93,375. "I can't believe I won Daytona."

Sprague barely finished at the head of the class in a field
featuring seven former series champions, a record at Daytona's
season opener.

After battling for the lead position with four other drivers
throughout the 100-lap event, Sprague trailed Kvapil with five
laps remaining and made several futile passing attempts along
the inside.

Sprague still trailed coming through turn 4 of the final lap
when he made his bold move, driving his Toyota along the outside
of Kvapil's Ford F-150 to win by just 0.034 seconds in the
eighth-closest finish in series history.

Johnny Benson also barely beat Kvapil to the finish line along
the inside in a Toyota to finish second.

"The goal is to get Toyota in Victory Lane," Benson said.
"That's our job, so I pushed Jack as hard as I could. Once I
saw Jack was going to be in the lead, I was trying for second or
the win. I knew if I stayed behind Jack, I wasn't going to get
second, so I cut across the track."

"I owe Johnny, I owe Johnny big," Sprague said. "He said he'd
go with me. I saw him up there on the top and I had to go."

Kvapil came in third, followed by the Toyotas of Mike Skinner
and reigning series champion Todd Bodine.

"I knew that was going to happen," Kvapil said. "I got down the
backstretch and looked in my mirror and said, 'Oh no, I'm out
too far on these guys.'"

A three-time series champion, Sprague took the first step toward
his record fourth title.

"This is by far the best race I've ever won," he said. "It took
a lot of help from all the other Toyota drivers. It was
awesome. I can't thank Johnny enough."

Sprague headlined a star-studded field which also featured
Hornaday, a two-time NCTS champion, and former champs Mike Bliss
(2002) and Ted Musgrave (2005). Kvapil (2003) and Skinner
(1995) also own series crowns.

The eighth consecutive season opener held at Daytona's 2
1/2-mile superspeedway, Friday's race featured 21 lead changes
among seven drivers and seven cautions. Kvapil, who led six
times for a total of 49 laps, kept his performance in
perspective.

"Our F-150 was the best truck out here tonight," said Kvapil,
who registered his third consecutive top-five finish in this
race. "I don't know how I could have done it any better. I
guess I could have tried blocking Sprague better, but I thought
we would have wrecked."